Football grapples with anti-Semitism storm

By Tom McGowan, CNN

Updated 1321 GMT (2121 HKT) November 27, 2012

Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

West Ham controversy – West Ham have already banned one fan for life after he was cautioned by police for "racially aggravated gesturing" during their match with Tottenham on Sunday. West Ham's fans are also reported to have aired songs about Adolf Hitler. The FA are to investigate. Tottenham won the game 3-1 with Gareth Bale (left) on the scoresheet.

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

FA to probe chants – Neither West Ham manager Sam Allardyce (L) or his Tottenham counterpart Andre Villas-Boas were keen to wade into the controversy. Allardyce told reporters at a post match press call: "I don't want to be a political animal -- I'm here to talk about football."

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Benayoun disappointed – West Ham's Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun took to Twitter to express his view of the chants. He said: "I was very disappointed to hear some of the songs yesterday and it was embarrassing. But we need to remember that it was made by a minority group of fans and I'm sure the FA together with West Ham will do everything to find and punish them."

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Rome attack – A group of Tottenham fans were attacked before their recent Europa League match with Lazio as they drank in the city center. One supporter is still in hospital suffering from stab wounds. West Ham's fans allegedly made reference to the incident in their chants.

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Anti-Semitic accusation – A section of Lazio fans unfurled a "Free Palestine" banner during the 0-0 Europa League draw with Tottenham, which was marred by anti-Semitic chanting from the home supporters. Tottenham traditionally have a strong Jewish following.

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Clattenburg cleared – Just last week Chelsea's complaint that Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg aimed racist language at midfielder Jon Obi Mikel was dismissed by the Football Association due to a lack of evidence.

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Terry charged – Chelsea's John Terry (L) was found not guilty in a criminal court of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand but received a four-match ban from the FA and a $356,000 fine for calling his opponent a "f*****g black c***."

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Hammers vow action on anti-Semitic chants8 photos

Suarez banned – Liverpool's Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez served an eight-match ban in the 2011/12 season for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. Suarez maintained his innocence but Liverpool were heavily criticized for their handling of the case.

Story highlights

Tottenham have a history of Jewish support, many fans referring to themselves as "Yids"

Critics want the term "Yid" banned from the club, with legal action threatened

Violent attacks, the chanting of Adolf Hitler's name and anti-Semitic abuse -- not dark memories of the 1930s but four days in the life of English Premier Leage club Tottenham Hotspur.

It has been an annus horribilis in football's fight against discrimination with Chelsea and Liverpool notably dragged through the mud, but Sunday's game against West Ham at Spurs' White Hart Lane stadium -- as fans made Nazi salutes -- gave the impression English football had reached a new low.

As well as the salutes, there were also accusations of anti-Semitic abuse, including hissing to mimic the sound of gas chambers, a reminder of the deaths of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

White Hart Lane is situated in north London, which is home to a large Jewish community, an association that has led some of Tottenham's fans identifying themselves as "Yids", a term which at different times throughout history has been used by Jews and also to abuse them.

Just days before Sunday's game, Lazio fans had chanted "Juden Tottenham" in a Europa League match against Spurs in Rome.

"There is a hardcore of racist and anti-Semitic fans in British football who really don't seem to have any regard for common sense or decency," Peter Herbert, the chairman of the association of black lawyers, a group which has threatened to take legal against Spurs fans who continue to use the term "Yid", told CNN.

"Despite the fact there are people in hospital having been abused on Wednesday night in Rome, they seem to add to that distress with these comments. We're in discussions with London's Metropolitan Police.

"I understand the FA have already reported it, which they should do with such incidents," added Herbert. "There has to be zero tolerance -- if these people can be identified they should be prosecuted and banned from football."

"As bad as the Holocaust"

That has already happened to one West Ham fan.

"Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that five supporters were arrested during Sunday's match at White Hart Lane outside of the stadium for unrelated incidents and two more were cautioned for racially aggravated gesturing inside the ground.," said a West Ham statement.

"One of those fans has since been identified as a season ticket holder and has been sent a letter containing a banning order from the club. Any other individuals identified can expect a similar swift and robust response."

Given what had happened on Thursday in Rome, third-tier Scunthorpe United manager Brian Laws will probably wished he had chosen his words more carefully in describing his team's performance on Saturday "as bad as the Holocaust".

"Anti-Semitism has no place in football or society in general," said the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which works to promote and defend the religious and civil liberties of British Jewry.

"For football fans to use Holocaust imagery and chants glorifying Adolf Hitler is grossly offensive to the Jewish community and is a stain upon the character of British football."

Herbert, who reported the racism allegations recently made by Chelsea against Mark Clattenburg to the police before the investigation was dropped and the referee was later cleared by the FA, suggests the use of the term "Yid" encourages an extreme reaction from a vocal minority.

"What you have to understand is that if only one person is offended it's one too many.," said Herbert.

"All these chants, intentional or unintentional, have to stop. If this happened in athletics or rugby it wouldn't be tolerated, why should it be tolerated in football?"

"We'll sing what we want"

But not all Spurs fans want to see the back of the word "Yid" and recent matches have seen the team's followers chant "We'll sing what we want" in direct response to Herbert's threat.

Soccer racism in Eastern Europe 8 photos

Soccer racism in Eastern Europe8 photos

Serbia scuffles – England midfielder Danny Rose claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after the second-leg of their Under-21 Euro 2013 playoff match against Serbia on Tuesday, and had stones thrown at him by the crowd in Krusevac. Fans also ran on to the pitch and scuffles broke out after a 1-0 win secured England qualification for Euro 2013.

Trouble in Bulgaria – In September 2011, Bulgaria were fined $55,000 after a small number of fans directed monkey chants at England's Ashley Young, Cole and Theo Walcott during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia.

Croatia in the dock – The Croatian FA were ordered to pay a $16,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of "displaying a racist banner and showing racist conduct during the Euro 2008 quarter-final tie against Turkey.

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Soccer racism in Eastern Europe8 photos

Crackdown on Russia – Russia were again in the news for the wrong reasons at Euro 2012 and were fined $39,00 for "the setting off and throwing of fireworks by Russia spectators, displaying of illicit banners and the invasion of the pitch by a supporter," during the Euro 2012 tie against Poland. Russia was also fined $155,000 after clashes between supporters and police during and after their game against the Czech Republic.

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Bendtner loses gamble – Denmark's Nicklas Bendtner was given a one-match ban and a $126,000 fine after he lifted his shirt to reveal a betting company's logo on his underwear while celebrating a goal against Portugal in a Euro 2012 group game.

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Porto punished – Porto were hit by a $27,000 fine after their fans were found guilty of subjecting Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli to monkey chants during a Europa League game in February 2012. It took UEFA six weeks to finally hand out a punishment. But questions were raised after UEFA also fined City $40,000 after the club were found guilty of coming back out on to the field of play late after the halftime interval.

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Crime and Punishment in sport 10 photos

Crime and Punishment in sport10 photos

Where it all began – It is now nearly a year since Chelsea lost to QPR 1-0 in an English Premier League game at Loftus Road. During the game it was alleged QPR defender Anton Ferdinand swore at John Terry and made reference to the Chelsea captain's reported affair with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Terry is then said to have described Ferdinand as a "f***ing black c***".

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Beyond reasonable doubt – In July, Terry was cleared in a London court, where the criminal burden of proof is "beyond all reasonable doubt". But the English Football Association then investigated the case, and using the test of "on the balance of probabilities", came to the conclusion that Terry's defence against claims he racially abused Ferdinand was "improbable, implausible, contrived".

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Handshake snub – Back in September, Ferdinand had declined Terry's offer of a handshake when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road as the feud between the two players rumbled on.

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'Twatgate' – After the FA delivered the independent commission's report on the Terry case, the Chelsea captain's teammate Ashley Cole tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S". The Chelsea and England left-back quickly issued a "unreserved apology" for his tweet through his solicitor.

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Crime and Punishment in sport10 photos

Suarez punished – In 2011 the FA had to deal with another racism case, this time handing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a $63,000 fine after finding the Uruguayan guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

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The end of the affair – Suarez and Evra failed to shake hands before the start of an English Premier League game at Old Trafford last season after the Uruguayan had served his ban. However, when United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in September, the pair did shake hands.

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Fine line – Questions have been raised about UEFA's sanctioning policy. Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner was fined $126,000 and banned from playing in his side's next competitive game for flashing his sponsored waistband promoting a bookmaker as he celebrated a goal against Portugal in Euro 2012. But that fine eclipsed the $52,000 fine that UEFA handed to the Bulgarian Football Union for its fans' racist abuse of England players during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia in September 2011.

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Blattergate – In November 2011, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told CNN that football did not have a problem with racism on the field and any incidents should be settled by a handshake.

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Guilty as charged – The FA's Independent Regulatory Commission heard 473 cases between December 2010 and December 2011, but only two of them ended in "not guilty" verdicts.

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Call to action – Stoke City boss Tony Pulis wants the Football Association to punish Liverpool's Luis Suarez for diving. "It's an embarrassment," said the Stoke manager after a 0-0 draw at Anfield. "The FA should be looking at this."

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"I've never had any problem using it," said Spurs supporter Richard Arrowsmith, who is not Jewish.

"It's a word Spurs fans regularly shout to each other. If I'm wearing a Spurs shirt in the street, it's quite common for another passing Spurs fan to shout ' Yiddo' .

"I was probably about seven or eight and it was the first Spurs game I went to. We used to have a drummer at White Hart Lane and the song used to go 'boom, boom, boon, boom-boom-boom, Yids!'

"I looked around and saw pretty much every Spurs fans clapping along and joining in with it ... It's something we've really made our own, it's a collective term for our fans now. It's an accepted word for Spurs fans in the modern age."

Arrowsmith rejected the idea that Spurs fans' use of the term encourages anti-Semitism, saying that particular argument removes any responsibility from the abusers.

"It's a pretty weak argument," he said. "It's been compared to another argument which suggests if girls wear short skirts they're inviting bad things to happen to them.

"No Spurs fan goes to the game thinking 'if I chant the word Yid I'm going to incite some racial hatred'. No one goes to the game thinking they are going to get some racial abuse."

But British comedian and author David Baddiel disagrees.

"The idea that Spurs fans are reclaiming the Y-word and are entitled to because so many of them are Jewish is simply not true," said Baddiel, who is Jewish and a Chelsea fan, recently writing in the Daily Mail.

"There are only 250,000 Jews in Britain as a whole and I'd say about three or four per cent of Tottenham's crowd is Jewish.

Football's battle with racism 12 photos

Football's battle with racism12 photos

Pericard calls for unity – Vincent Pericard was born in Cameroon, before moving to France at an early age. He started his career at French club St Etienne, before joining Italy's Juventus. He left the Serie A club in 2002 to come to England, where he played for a number of clubs, most notably Portsmouth and Stoke City, before retiring at the age of 29. He has called for a united front in the fight against racism.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Roberts boycott – Each season anti-discrimination organisation Kick it Out holds a week of action to promote awareness about its anti-racism work. But Reading's Grenadian striker Jason Roberts, who has played in England for the last 15 years, has said he will not wear the Kick It Out T-shirt in protest at what he perceives to be the campaign group's lack of action in combating racism in football.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Ugly scenes in Serbia – Earlier this week, Danny Rose, a midfielder on loan at English Premier League side Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur, claims he was subjected to monkey chants before, during and after England's Under-21 match in Serbia, while also alleging he had stones thrown at him by the crowd during the game.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Lazio fined – Lazio was hit with a $52,000 fine by UEFA following racist chanting by its supporters during the Europa League fixture with Tottenham last month. But leading figures within the games say it is time for clubs and countries to be banned from playing matches if they are found guilty of racist abuse.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Terry accepts punishment – On Thursday, Chelsea captain John Terry opted not to appeal the English Football Association's verdict that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Where it all began – It is now nearly a year since Chelsea lost to QPR 1-0 in an English Premier League game at Loftus Road. During the game it was alleged QPR defender Ferdinand swore at Terry and made reference to the Chelsea captain's reported affair with the ex-partner of former team-mate Wayne Bridge. Terry is then said to have described Ferdinand as a "f***ing black c***".

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Beyond reasonable doubt – In July, Terry was cleared in a London court, where the criminal burden of proof is "beyond all reasonable doubt".

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Handshake snub – But the English Football Association then investigated the case, and using the test of "on the balance of probabilities", came to the conclusion that Terry's defence against claims he racially abused Ferdinand was "improbable, implausible, contrived". In September, Ferdinand declined Terry's offer of a handshake when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road as the feud between the two players rumbled on.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

'Twatgate' – After an independent commission's report on the Terry case, the Chelsea captain's teammate Ashley Cole tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFT***S". The Chelsea and England left-back quickly issued a "unreserved apology" for his tweet through his solicitor, but he was fined $145,000 by the FA.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

Suarez punished – In 2011 the FA had to deal with another racism case, this time handing Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a $63,000 fine after finding the Uruguayan guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

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Football's battle with racism12 photos

The end of the affair – Suarez and Evra failed to shake hands before the start of an English Premier League game at Old Trafford last season after the Uruguayan had served his ban. However, when United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in September, the pair did shake hands.

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Governance – The last year has proved uncomfortable for the FA and questions have been raised over the differing punishments handed out to Terry and Suarez.

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UEFA's fight against racism 5 photos

UEFA's fight against racism5 photos

Proper punishment? – Porto's fine after its fans made monkey chants at Manchester City's Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure was less than the English club's punishment for being late on the field in another match.

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UEFA's fight against racism5 photos

Taking a stand – European football's ruling body UEFA has run a "Unite Against Racism" campaign in recent years.

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UEFA's fight against racism5 photos

Messi's message – Three-time world player of the year Lionel Messi with a mascot wearing an anti-racism shirt ahead of Barcelona's UEFA Champions League match against Czech team Viktoria Plzen in October 2011.

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UEFA's fight against racism5 photos

Manchester City united – Manchester City took part in the campaign in 2009 when its players and mascots wore Unite Against Racism t-shirts for a home match against Polish club Lech Poznan.

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Stadium presence – UEFA has worked closely with the group Football Against Racism in Europe since 2001. FARE members will be patrolling matches at the Euro 2012 finals looking for evidence of racist behavior.

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"That means well over 90% of those chanting 'Yid Army' are not actually Jewish and that is just one of several reasons why it cannot be right."

Poisonous atmosphere

As the FA investigate what happened on Sunday, academic Clifford Stott called for England's governing body to deliver a reasoned response.

"The authorities need to respond by empowering the majority of those fans who aren't abusing other supporters,"said Stott, who has advised governments and police forces internationally on crowd management policy and practice.

"If the lessons of the past are anything to go by, solutions reside in working with fans' grassroots organizations to respond constructively to any criminal action that occurred. The key message is that an indiscriminate response is counterproductive.

"Don't forget there is already sufficient legislation to deal with anti-Semitic or racist chanting at football grounds

"Where this has happened then clearly it must be condemned and if the evidence exists for criminal sanctions to follow.

"But a knee-jerk response can escalate the problem and it is important to keep what happened in perspective."

Without attempting to excuse the actions of West Ham's fans, Stott explained how a unique set of circumstances had combined to create Sunday's poisonous atmosphere.

"Those chants -- inexcusable as they are -- followed the news about what happened in Rome and what the Society of Black Lawyers has been saying about the illegitimacy of Spurs fans' expression of their identity.

"In 12 months I doubt if and when this fixture is played again that those chants would be repeated."

Meanwhile, Herbert wants football's European governing body UEFA to use its regulations to empower referees in future to prevent a repeat of the abusive incidents that recently occurred in Serbia involving England's Under-21 team as well as Rome and north London.

"We'd like to see a proactive stance on this, a vigorous approach, prosecute where possible, ban people from grounds and if incidents like that do happen, call a halt to the game.

"There is a UEFA rule which is never used where a referee can call off the game. That's the sort of initiative which has to happen.

"Do you want to watch a football game or do you want to listen to this abuse?"